[253] David Hume (1711-1776). His History of England, published from 1754 to 1761, goes down to 1688, whence it is continued by Smollett.—T.
[254] Tobias George Smollett (1721-1771). That portion of his complete History of England which embraces the period from the Revolution to the death of George II. is generally treated as carrying on Hume's History, and is printed as a continuation of that work.—T.
[255] Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.—T.
[256] William Robertson (1721-1793), a "moderate" historian, author of a History of Scotland, a History of Charles V., and a History of America.—T.
[257] John Dryden (1631-1700), Poet-Laureate.—T.
[258] Alexander Pope (1688-1744). His house at Twickenham stood on the site of the modern Pope's Villa, now the property of Mr. Henry Labouchere, M.P. The willow became rotten and was cut down.—T.
[259] The Rev. Hugh Blair (1718-1800), Professor of Rhetoric at Edinburgh University, and author of the Lectures on Rhetoric and a collection of famous Sermons.—T.
[260] Dr. Samuel Johnson ( 1709-1783), author of the Dictionary and the Lives of the English Poets.—T.
[261] Addison and Steele's Spectator ran for nearly two years, from January 1711 to December 1712.—T.
[262] Edmund Burke (1729-1797), the great statesman. His Reflections on the Revolution in France appeared in 1790.—T.